Black Mask - DC Universe

I finally got my September day-of-sale items from Matty Collector.com. They got held up because one of the He-Man figures I ordered went out of stock or something strange. But anyway, here he is that dastardly Batman villain Black Mask!

 I don't own a whole lot of DCU figures, but most of the ones I have are Batman related. I ordered two of this guy so I could give one to my buddy, comic writer Doug Moench, who is the creator of Black Mask. He comes with a knife, a Batman cowl, and a double blades weapon.

The figure features the standard DCU suit body with a new head and accessories. The knife and mask included with the figure are in homage to a Batman comic cover that features the Black Mask with the bat-cowl nailed to the wall with a big knife. He's got a really creepy head sculpt.

Gigan - Imperial

Imperial made Godzilla and King Kong toys in the late 80's. One of the lesser know monster figures they made is this strange version of Gigan. He has some of Gigan's identifying features, like his beak, back fin, and saw blade in his stomach. But other features are very different. This version has two separate eyes instead of a visor. He also has two tow and two fingers. In the movies Gigan had giant sickle blades for hands. Even the back fin is a off because the movie version has two fins next to each other.

I actually bought this guy in third grade at a yard sale we had in class where everything was purchased with reward bucks we got for doing a good job. It was kind of fun. I bought the GI Joe character Sci-Fi the same day.

Troll in a Skeleton Suit - Russ

Trolls are a weird toy that comes in and out of popularity every so many years. Some of the troll dolls are very ugly, while others are kind of cute. I always like the design of the Russ Trolls. Going along with the season I decided to post my Troll in a Skeleton Suit that I've has since the early 90's. This Troll always makes we think of the British band The Who. Their bass player, John Entwistle, famously wore a Skeleton Suit for the Isle of Wight festival.

Spider-Man - Secret Wars

I previously posted an overview of the Secret Wars toy line, but today I specifically want to take a look at the blue & red costumed Spider-Man figure from the line. Spider-Man has always been my favorite Marvel hero. I however did not get him when the line was in stores. In middle school after taking a brief break from toy collecting I picked up a really beat up Spider-Man figure. I loved that he was close to the same size as GI Joes and other toy lines. I liked using gray silly putty to make web lines for him. Unfortunately he was so beat up and loose he could not stand on his own. Later on I picked up a really nice version of the same figure. When you check out the pictures you can see how worn out the first Spider-Man was. He almost passes for a battle damaged version.

He's a nice figure, but has limited articulation and paint apps. For a figure of his vintage the articulation is easily overlooked, but the gaps in his webbing on his outfit  (like on the inside of his gloves) do take something away from this figure.

I used a fine point sharpie market one time to draw in the webbing 

that was missing on the really beat up Spider-Man.

Granny Gross - Kenner Real Ghostbusters

Granny Gross is an action figure from the Haunted Humans line of villainous characters for the Real Ghostbusters line. She looks like a sweet old lady but when you pull up on her hat she turns into a gruesome monster. She has a third eye under her hat (it's a sticker) and her normal eyes bug out of her glasses. Granny's entire torso opens up to reveal a huge mouth with a long tounge and sharp teeth.

Granny Gross always reminded me of the librarian in the first Ghostbusters movie where the ghost was fairly normal and then became hideous after Ray shouted "Get her!" As a kid if I didn't use her as a Ghost I would pretend she was a client that would come into the firehouse to hire the Ghostbusters.

Universal Monster Studio - Marx

In the early 90's when the Universal Monsters had a big come back, around the same time as Monsters in My Pockets were big, the old Marx Monsters were re-released. This time in a fancy box labeled "Monster Studio". This set contained all six classic monsters and a set of paints. As a kid I used to spend hours at a local craft store. My mom and my sister would be buying rubber stamps or cross stick kits. I would always walk around the model kit department.

the Mummy and the Phantom

One time I saw this set, and I had to have it. I didn't know anything about the Marx Monsters of the 60's at the time but I was really into monsters. My buddy Derek and I played with Monsters in My Pockets all the time and were researching monsters at the public library. We were collecting Universal Monsters stickers that came in bags of Doritos chips (or some other food). It took some convincing but my mom eventually let me get them.

Wolfman and Frankenstein

 The sad part is I never painted them. I always wanted to but never got around to it. I was kind of scared to mess them up as a kid. I was worried I wouldn't be able to do a good enough job. I was also worried about the paints that were included. The didn't seem real great. It was almost like a tray of water colors. Years later I was going to paint them with Citadel paints (my paint of choice for most things). It still never happened. Then for about two years I went though some major vision issues and didn't do much painting. Now that I'm doing pretty well again and I may have to spray these guys with primer and get to work.

 Creature form the Black Lagoon and the Hunchback

The Frankenstein figure is my favorite of the set. He's very tall and just has a nice sculpt. I've always had a soft spot for the Hunchback after playing him in an elementary school talent show production of the Monster Mash. The Creature from the Black Lagoon has some weird flashing (extra plastic) on his hands. I always wanted to try to clean them up with a small file if I paint him. I guess I need a reference photo of the 60's release to see what the hands should be like.

Little Plastic Dinos

Sorry, it was Back-to-School Night (8 down 27 years to go) so I didn't have time for a full update. Mini-Figs to the rescue. Hopefully I can get a good update in before going to work at the Hayride tomorrow night.

I had tons of these plastic dinos as a kid. I had each of these designs in several different colors. There are some other little guys like these from the same collection. I have no idea where they came from. I've had them for as long as I can remember. I'm talking like four years old.

More Custom Arctic GI Joes

I try to vary my posts and not put the same kind of stuff up two days in a row, but I broke this post into two so it didn't get so long. More custom figures I made over the years.

 Arctic Beach Head

This is a Beach Head v1 Head and Torso, Frostbite arms, and Big Brawler legs. His shirt under the vest was painted white to match his sleeves. His gloves were also painted black to help match his normal uniform more. I have found that Beach Head v1 usually have broken waist, so I replaced his legs with another set of camo pants. His weapons are all weapon pack versions of Beach Head v1's weapons painted up white with gray details.

 Arctic Footloose

This is a Footloose v1 head and legs on a Frostbite v1 torso and arms. He is armed with repainted weapon pack weapons from Footloose and Leatherneck. The Leatherneck gun is painted black with a brown stock. The Footloose backpack and helmet are painted white with gray details.

Arctic Cobra Viper and Snow Serpent

I always like the Vipers in snow suits from GI Joe: The Movie and tried to create that look as a kid.I put the head and boots from a viper on a Snow Serpent body. In the movie their snow suits are navy blue, but that would involve a lot of painting. The Snow Serpent was a yard sale find and has some yellowed. I decided to paint the top part of his mask to look like an exposed face. Some artwork for this figure depicts the character with part of his face showing. This also gives the goggles on top his head some purpose.

Custom Arctic GI Joe figures

I have been customizing GI Joes since I was about 10 years old. Some of the figures I've made I am proud of and others I have know idea what I was thinking. After creating dozens of new characters and attempting to create character from the comics, I was looking for a new direction. There are many GI Joes with specific environmental training, but I always wanted versions of some of the classic characters in gear suitable for specific battle scenarios. I also try hard to make custom figures where I don't have to paint their joints. This prevents chipping to give them a nicer finish.

 Arctic Snake-Eyes & Timber

I picked up a Snake-Eyes v2 Head and Torso from a toy reseller. I mixed those parts with Frostbite v1 arms and legs. I painted his shirt white, and gloves black. I added light blue tiger stripes to his outfit to hide the badge on Frostbites arm and break up all the solid white. 

He is complete with v2 Timber, backpack, and sword.

 Arctic Stalker

This is a Stalker v1 head on a Snow Job v1 body. His beret was painted white. His scarf was painted camouflage green and his boots were painted black. He is armed with a weapon pack version of Stalker's gun and a repainted weapon pack version of Roadblock v1 backpack.

 Arctic Grandslam

Here is a Grandslam v1 head and torso with Snow Job v1 arms and legs. His troso was painted white. Grandslam's pads and pockets were painted light blue. He is armed with a weapon pack version of Scrap Iron's pistol. His Arctic Modified JUMP jet pack is a repainted weapon pack version of the Eel back back. His final accessory is a repainted weapon 

pack version of Mutt's helmet

Dragon Blaster Skeletor - MOTUC

Here is the newest variant from the MOTUC line. Dragon Blaster Skeletor is kind of a funny toy to have converted into a line that doesn't feature action features. This figure's vintage action feature was his selling point. Skeletor comes with a purple power sword, a pet dragon chained to his armor and the third mini-comic in the new series.

The dragon is a nice sculpt. I kind of wish they would have changed the color of the lock and shackles. I do understand that this is true to the vintage figure, but I'm just not wild about the neon colors.